Meaning of sickness unto death | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Personal despair over the disquieting circumstances of human existence.
   countable, uncountable
2. Despair, profound discontent, or a similar persistent debilitating malaise of the mind, spirit, or soul that produces a decline in mental, physical, or societal health and that may culminate in death or dissolution.
   broadly, countable, uncountable

Examples

“Kafka's illnesses are more existential than physical; they are like Kierkegaard's "sickness unto death."”

“Still, many observers of the orchestra, including some players themselves, continue to detect a malaise in the institution. Many critics, especially those deeply involved as composers and performers of new music, diagnose the trouble as a sickness unto death.”

“These films . . . are evidence of a deep cultural malaise. The need to make them and the desire to consume them are symptoms of a contemporary sickness unto death.”

“[O]ur "high" or "academic" or "avant-garde" culture is in a state of crisis. This crisis is not a healthy one, but a sickness unto death, a decadence that threatens to destroy our society.”

CEFR level